OUR TEAM

  • Khloe Rios-Wyatt (She/Her/Ella)

    Founder/CEO

  • Rachel Pozos (She/Her/Ella)

    Health Advocate/Center Coordinator

  • Eduardo Perez (He/They)

    Director of Programs

  • Michelle Darmary (She/Her)

    Housing Navigator

  • Leslie Jimenez (She/Her)

    Outreach Specialist

  • Victoria Castro (She/Her)

    Health Advocate

  • Nancy Paola Hernandez (She/Her)

    Billing Specialist

OUR LEADERSHIP

  • Board Member

    Dale Melchert is a civil rights attorney at the Transgender Law Center who was born and raised in California. Dedicated to the liberation of all people, Dale litigates cases to advance legal protections for transgender and non-binary people across the country in health care, prisons, and other systems that criminalize our communities, with a racial equity and disability justice focus. Prior to joining Transgender Law Center, Dale represented LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected survivors of violence at the New York City Anti-Violence Project in family law, housing, matrimonial, immigration, name change and discrimination matters. He also trained services providers and courts to increase access to services and resources for LGBTQ+ survivors. Dale graduated from CUNY School of Law in 2014 where he was the recipient of the 2014 Dave Fields Prize for Student Leadership and Achievement and served as the Stonewall Foundation Fellow.

  • Board Member

    Queen Victoria believes in leadership through service.  As a consultant she provides strategy and capacity building to various organizations. She also serves as Queen of The Royal Court and she is President of FLUX, both international networks dedicated to raising the profile of trans and gender non-conforming communities. Queen Victoria Ortega leverages her intersectionality to guide organizations and systems toward transformational change that is both meaningful and effective.

  • Board Secretary

    Cathy has worked with the transgender community in Hawai'i since 2003, first starting off as a Peer Educator at Kulia Na Mamo, then eventually moving on to become the Transgender Service Manager at the Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center. Cathy has proudly expanded her social justice work as she joined the Trans Justice Funding Project in 2020 as their Deputy Director proudly helping to move resources to grassroots trans-led programs across the U.S. and its territories. Cathy is also proud of her academic accomplishments at the University of Hawai'i- West Oahu where she received a B.S. in Public Administration.

  • Board Chair

    Erin Samueli serves as the Director of Social Justice Philanthropy for the Samueli Foundation. She leads the Foundation’s overall Social Justice portfolio with focus on its priorities to support grassroots organizing and organizations led by and for BIPOC and/or communities impacted directly at the intersections of gender/sexual justice, racial, economic and social justice, criminalization, reproductive rights and models for community justice. She also oversees the Foundation’s collaboration with partners and programs that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and access by building empathy, cultural competency and reducing stereotypes. Erin was born and raised in Southern California. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Science Education from Boston University in 2017, then a Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University in 2019. She was a middle school science teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area for a number of years and in her teaching, she focused on equity, anti-racist practices, and hands-on learning experiences. Aside from teaching, Erin began her philanthropy journey by joining the Maverick Collective, where she worked closely with a team in Ethiopia with the goal of integrating adolescent reproductive health care into the school system.   Erin is passionate about reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ equality, racial justice, education, the environment, among more. She uses these social justice lenses as ways to view her work with the ultimate goal of leveling the playing field in America, and globally, so philanthropy is no longer a necessity.

  • Founder and CEO

    Khloe Rios-Wyatt is an immigrant Transgender woman, activist, and community organizer. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations as well as a minor in Spanish from California State University Fullerton.

    Khloe is the President and CEO of Alianza Translatinx, the first and currently the only Transgender-led organization in Orange County, CA. This center was created under her leadership to assist with the multiple health and social needs of Transgender people across Orange County. Alianza Translatinx facilitates mechanisms of empowerment for Transgender, Gender non-conforming and Nonbinary people through a community lens to achieve community education and overall empowerment. She has been a valuable team member of several local OC planning bodies including the OC HIV planning Council and the OC Integrated Plan Committee. In the past, Khloe has been involved with the Spanish-speaking media (Radio, Newspaper and TV) to raise awareness on Trans-related issues. She also remains involved with the media as a source of information related to Trans awareness. She is recognized at the local, regional and national levels as an expert in the area of Transgender health issues, immigration, health education, minority women, cultural competency, community organizing and HIV education. She has received several awards for her contributions to the Trans community.